Tag Archives: publicity

“There’s ya problem right there!” Spock gets horizontal with the Enterprise’s guts. A rare publicity still, although odd that those markers are on the rug in front of him! I think they were markers for where the actors to stand?

Like this:

Going through some publicity and promo shots — Let’s have a little love for Walter Koenig (Chekov) — the ‘Davy Jones’ of TOS! I love the last one with the fan and fan magazine against the Mission: Impossible backdrop (Both series filmed on the same lot). What a fine young man!

I remember having a magazine pin-up of this exact shot, but I accidentally left it in the copier at the post office…

Your move.

Seriously what are they doing with those stage lights?

The basic stage direction for most of these shots was “Just stand dramatically and stare…” I wonder what was going through their heads while posing, and if they ever cracked up while trying to appear so serious!

I came across a bunch of old publicity stills from Season 1 –many of these were used during Trek’s syndicated heyday in the 70’s; a fact I found a bit frustrating at the time because (and this will sound so geeky) the uniforms are not the final form used, but the ones used for the two pilots and the first episode filmed; Mudd’s Women. Real Trekkies knew that the sleeker, more streamlined uniform shirts with thinner contrasting collars were the norm on the show, whereas these were a bit chunkier. I’ve noticed that the stills favor Nimoy’s right side, but both sides of that angular stone face looked fine to me! The other interesting note here is how prominently Grace Lee Whitney (Yeoman Rand) featured, although she only lasted 13 episodes and her look was radically altered. (Although I must admit, I loved the women’s uniforms with pants; they were much more practical for scaling all all those fiberglass mountains!) Also, I love Spock’s gentle smile in this group shot.

I’ve fixed the color and noise in most of these pictures, which is par for the course with this kind of thing. As example, this quick shot of Nimoy and Hunter between scenes was faded and beat up. But as I look at this image afresh, one can only imagine how different Trek would have been if it had not been radically changed by the time it aired. (You can read speculations about this in the great guide, Star Trek FAQ by Mark Clark)

BTW, the color photo here of Spock holding the Enterprise was a poster on my brother’s wall for years. As a child of 5 when Trek first aired, the photo actually scared me a little, (!) for Mr. Spock seemed so…sinister! Of course by the time Trek hit syndication I was madly in love with him, and the poster had been transferred to my bedroom walls for a good 5 years! ( oh, how life’s opportunity was misused!)

I also have a new publicity photo of Spock as well as one of Kirk and McCoy from eBay that I’ve never seen before! This being Thanksgiving week here in America, it’s truly something to be thankful for! Boy, he looks mad here!